Judge tells child porn defendant ‘You are what you’re born’

The judge presiding over the corruption trial of ex-Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe, weighed in on the nature versus nurture argument Thursday when he sentenced a paramedic caught with child porn who insisted he liked the stuff after he was similarly victimized as a child.

Capital bureau reporter James M. Odato writes:

Sharpe rejected the notion Cossey’s problem was “because of what happened to you as a child,” and attributed the man’s pedophilia to “a gene you were born with.”

“It is something you can’t control and therein lies the problem,” Sharpe said. ” … You are what you’re born.”

Cossey said he was getting psychiatric help, but Sharpe said he had little faith in that profession.

He then sentenced Cossey to more than six years in prison, but allowed Cossey to remain free until after the holidays.